Panning for gold in death records

"Would you like to come up and see my collection of death certificates?"

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poconorecord.com

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Posted Dec. 5, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Dec 14, 2012 at 11:25 PM

Posted Dec. 5, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Dec 14, 2012 at 11:25 PM

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"Would you like to come up and see my collection of death certificates?"

It's unlikely that anyone outside of genealogy would ever use that as a pickup line, but I will admit to owning just such a collection.

I love death certificates. I might feel different when I'm the one supplying the information for a deceased loved one, but when tracing an ancestor, it may be the best place to begin.

I sent for my first one out of sheer frustration when the only information I had about my great-grandfather was the inscription on his headstone. I was amazed at the items listed on his 1937 death certificate — his birthdate, birthplace, marital status, occupation, his parents' names, his mother's maiden name, their birthplaces and his place of burial. In my hand I held more information about him than any living member of my family knew.

Dark collection

Over the years, I've collected more than 40 official death records, from the Civil War to the present. Mostly the information is accurate, especially concerning the death and burial. They are a gold mine of information, but I've learned the nuggets may be fool's gold.

Not a good time

The information is usually provided by relatives, or even a non-relative, at a time when they are distraught over the loss of their loved one, so mistakes are understandable.

My great-nana listed her husband's father as John, but his name was actually Peter. Another certificate had the deceased born in England, but his birthplace was really Ireland. On the one for my great-grandmother Ellie, her son listed Kelly as her maiden name. Well, I gave him points for getting it half right — her maiden name was Lee.

Another great-grandmother had her first husband's surname incorrectly listed as her maiden name. Let's say she was born Mary Mann; married Mr. Morris; then widowed and married Mr. Perry. Her son, from her second marriage, was the informant on the death certificate. I imagine that conversation went something like this:

"Maiden name?" asks the funeral director.

"Huh?" says the son, understandingly distracted at the death of his mother.

"Your mother's name before she married your father," explains the director.

"Oh, it was Morris."

Technically correct, but her maiden name got lost in that conversation.

Cause of death — or not

I was really surprised at the medical errors listed on a few of the death certificates.

My great-grandfather was killed in 1917 at Frackville, a coal-mining district near Pottsville in Schuylkill County. He was taken to Miner's Hospital, where the cause of death was erroneously listed as "mine accident" on his death certificate. I might have accepted this as fact, if his wife hadn't told me a different story. I located newspaper articles about the accident and the subsequent coroner's inquest, which proved it was a trolley car collision — not a mining accident.

Other certificates had misspellings of medical terminology. I chuckle here as I fight with my word processor to misspell stenosis as "stinosis," which is how it appeared on my great-aunt's certificate from 1951.

Celebritis, as listed on a Philadelphia record from 1874, certainly sounds like a medical term, but online search engines keep directing me to celebrity entertainment sites. I still haven't found a definition, even after hitting the books.

A few certificates have listed some curious causes of death, such as a 1903 record listing "Bright's disease" (kidney failure), an 1850 "child bed fever" (a woman infected during childbirth), an 1882 epidemic of "phthisis pulmonalis" (lung tuberculosis) and a case of acute indigestion in 1925. Yes, great-grand-père actually died of indigestion.

Sidelined

In one instance, I was searching for the maiden name of a woman in my direct line who died many years before standardized certificates were issued — so her maiden name wasn't part of the sketchy courthouse record. I was descended from her daughter, but was disappointed when the daughter's death certificate listed her mother's maiden name as "unknown."

For years that maiden name was a mystery, until one day I had one of those "think-outside-the-box" moments and realized that the woman's five sons would also have death certificates. I found two that listed their mother's name as "Mariah" but with different surnames. Which was correct? I hunted up all five certificates for her sons, and four of them had the same name. Majority rules. Eureka!

Valerie Perry of Stroudsburg is an amateur genealogist, who has been tracing her lineage since 1978. Email: aq.vperry@gmail.com